Dear geek,

I got the newsletter last month and was wondering, what exactly is happening to windows XP? Do I really need to update this?

Sincerely XP lover

Dear XP is KO’d,

On April 8, 2014, Microsoft has decided that they will no longer support Windows XP, and will be instead focusing on their other operating systems, like Windows 8. What this means, is that they will no longer be doing security updates, which can make it easier for hackers and viruses to reach your computer, and some new programs will not be supported by Windows XP, so many new programs, games and apps will not be able to run on your computer.

The lack of security updates means that your PC will not know how to protect itself from, or even recognize, any new kind of virus or spyware. Leaving your computer almost completely open for attack and your files ready to be compromised. That Star Trek novel you’ve been working on for years? Hackers are going to be able to take that, and information such as passwords to important accounts, easier than ever. Because of this, many companies with lots of customer information are required by law to upgrade from Windows XP.

Many programs are also going to discontinue supporting Windows XP. On the back of games and programs, it will now say “Windows 7 or higher” under requirements.

So, although most people are not required by law to make the switch from Windows XP, it is highly recommended. If you are still running Microsoft XP at your office, we can help you easily make the switch, and help ensure the performance of your network! Give us a call at (204) 800-3166, or e-mail info@tbyd.ca if you need help with the transition!

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

We’ll translate it from Geek-lish to English, so it actually helps!

Dear geek, 

Christmas was a few weeks ago, and for Christmas, I gave my kid an iPad. Today, I checked my credit card account, and Apple charged me $300! I checked the iPad, and my kid seems to have pressed buttons on angry birds, and bought $300 worth of bird food or bacon, or whatever it is that you can purchase on angry birds. I don’t want to take away the iPad, but I can’t afford charges like that every few months! What can I do?

Sincerely, 
That’s some expensive bacon!

Dear bacon,

First thing to do is call Apple. Depending on how soon you catch this, they could take off the charge as an “accidental purchase”, but know that they will only do this once. Any purchase like this after this one time, will be on you.

Next, it might be time to set up parental controls. Go to ‘settings’, then ‘ general’, and into restrictions. Here, when you slide to ‘enable restrictions’, it will ask you to create a four digit pass code. Once you make that pass code, it will ask you for it every time you go to make a purchase, so as long as you don’t tell your child the pass code, they will have to go through you before making any purchases. Also make sure that the slider for ‘in-app purchases’ is on.

Another good thing to do is to go into ‘settings’, ‘general’, then ‘pass code’, and set pass code to ‘immediately’. This makes it so anytime anyone tries to make any kind of purchase, it will ask for the pass code immediately.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.
We’ll translate it from Geek-lish to English, so it actually helps!

Dear geek,

I decided that it was time to get myself an iPod so I can listen to music and cut out my mothers yelling down the stairs while I read my comic books. I bought a 120gb iPod, but when I went to put some music on it, it says I only have 111gb left. What gives? What happened to the other 9gb?

Sincerely, giga-whhhhat?

Dear giga,

This happens all the time with things such as iPods or external hard drives. Your iPod itself is taking up the 9gb so it can run. The operating system, or the programs that make the iPod run the way it does, need to be on the iPod.

With 111gb, you still have more than enough room room for any songs or apps you want to put on there. Without those 9gb already on there, you’d have a small, expensive paperweight.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

We’ll translate it from Geek-lish to English, so it actually helps!

Dear Geek,

Once in a while, my computer says the firewall blocked a program from running. Why is this happening? What the heck is a firewall anyways?

Sincerely,
Hit the wall

Dear blocked,

A firewall is a kind of extra protection which helps filter through programs and information trying to reach your computer. It allows good information through, while stopping hackers and virus programs. The only problem with this, is sometimes the firewall is a bit overprotective, like your mother. If the program appears bad in any way, the firewall says you can’t be friends with it. Usually, this is a good thing, but when you’re trying to play the new Star Trek game that you downloaded online, but your mom- I mean firewall, tells you that you can’t because it’s an unknown program, it seems like kind of a hassle and an annoyance.

Evermore I tell you how to turn it off, there’s a few things you should think of. Turning off the firewall for a bit to run a program is most likely alright, but doing it for a long period of time might allow hackers or viruses onto your computer. If you’re going to turn it off, don’t forget to turn it back on, and make sure you have other protection, like an antivirus, protecting your computer. Also, always leave firewall on if you’re on an unsecure wifi network, like if you’re at a coffee shop. This is because you don’t know who else could be on the network, or what they could be doing.

To turn off your firewall, the easiest way is to go to the start menu, and search “windows firewall” in the search box. Pick the “windows firewall” option that pops up. In the left sidebar, click “turn windows firewall on or off”. Under “home or work network settings”, click “turn windows firewall off”. The option to turn it back on after, is right above this, and says “turn windows firewall on”.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.
We’ll translate it from Geek-lish to English, so it actually helps!

Dear Geek,

I have an e-mail account for my Kitty Cat fan club, my personal e-mail, and my work e-mail. I spend way too long checking each e-mail account separately. Is there a way to get all of my e-mails in one place?

Sincerely,

Kitty Cats and work, all in one place!

Dear Kitty Cats in Suits,

There is a way to do that, don’t worry! Because the most used e-mail platform is g-mail, I’m going to explain how to do this through g-mail, but it will be very similar between other ones as well.

The first thing you need to do is open g-mail and log on to the e-mail you would like to forward (not the one you want to forward to). You’ll want to click the gear button in the top right hand corner, and select Settings. Select “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. There should be a button saying “Add a forwarding address”, click on it, and a box should come up where you can add a forwarding e-mail. This will be the e-mail they send all your stuff from the first e-mail address to, or your main e-mail address. They will then send an e-mail to your main address, just confirming that this forwarding of e-mail is verified. There will be a link in this e-mail that you will need to click on to confirm that you want things forwarded to this e-mail.

Back in your e-mail you want to be forwarded, you should refresh the page, then go back to the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. Select the “Forward a copy incoming mail to” option, and make sure the new forwarding address (email address you want your email forwarded to) is listed in the first drop-down menu. In the second drop-down menu, you can choose some additional options, such as “keep G-mails copy in the inbox”, or “archive G-mail’s copy”. Once you choose all these options, click the “Save changes” button at the bottom.

Multiple e-mail addresses can be added as forwarding addresses in the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to:  geek@tbyd.ca.  

We’ll translate it from Geek-lish to English, so it actually helps!